The invention relates generally to the improvement of externally powered machinery designed to mine coal by the use of a single operator (autonomous miners).
Engineers at companies such as Arch Technology have successfully combined programmable logic controls with ring laser gyroscopes and inclinometers to enable an autonomous miner to follow a prescribed path in a coal seam quite precisely. Because of this, the human operator may be positioned in a non-hazardous location, away from the high wall or underground face area, as he steers the machinery. However, after a single tunnel has been dug through the coal seam, the operator usually needs to dig another tunnel parallel to the first tunnel while maintaining a certain wall thickness to support the mine. Although sophisticated electronic equipment, such as a laser gyroscope, may aid the operator in maintaining the same heading, and inclinometers may help him stay at the same elevation, the miner may yet creep laterally toward the adjacent tunnel as it moves forward and undercut the mine's supporting structure.